Susan Blair named Chief Privacy Officer

Kyle Cavanaugh, Senior Vice President for Administration

I am pleased to announce that, effective November 1, 2007, Susan Blair will assume the role of Chief Privacy Officer for the University and will report directly to the Senior Vice President for Administration. In this capacity, Ms. Blair will oversee privacy policies and protections for student records and health information. Ms. Blair also will manage the privacy safeguards for other personal identifiable information, such as Social Security numbers; when privacy breaches occur, Ms. Blair will coordinate the University’s investigation and response.

In recent years, there has been significant public and governmental concern that many universities do not adequately protect the privacy of personal information, particularly medical records, financial data, student records, and Social Security numbers. Several initiatives at UF have been introduced to safeguard privacy—including significant work by the university’s Office of the Vice President and General Counsel, the Registrar’s Office, the Office of Audit & Compliance Review, and several Information Security committees. Because of the increased focus on the privacy of personal information, it was agreed that a Chief Privacy Officer was needed to champion campus-wide privacy issues and to coordinate efforts at the University to protect personal information. The General Counsel’s Office will continue to be responsible for legal interpretations and responses to legal claims, and will provide legal advice to the Chief Privacy Officer.

To introduce the breadth of University privacy issues, the Privacy Office has launched a new web site, which is available at www.privacy.ufl.edu.